Vacancies are expensive, and can dramatically reduce your cash flow and your long-term ROI. To own and operate a successful investment property, you need to keep your property occupied with a high-quality tenant who pays rent on time and takes care of the home.
We’re here to help you reduce vacancy in your rental property. There are a few different ways you can bring down your vacancy rate, and at Walters & Company, we focus on two main factors; tenant retention and competitive pricing.
Retaining your High-Quality Denver Tenants
The best way to avoid vacancy is by keeping your property occupied. If you already have a great tenant in place, it’s wise to do everything you can to keep that tenant in place. Make sure you’re responsive and attentive during the entire term of the lease. Take care of maintenance issues right away, check in with your tenants once in a while, and be sure to answer their phone calls and respond to their messages.
At lease renewal time, we reach out to tenants 45 to 60 days prior to their lease expiration date. We want to begin the conversation around renewing their lease. This allows both owners and tenants to spend some time planning. If the tenant chooses to renew their lease, we take a good look at the surrounding markets to ensure that any rental increase applied is fair and accurate. We discuss everything with the owner, and get final approval so you know what to expect. Signing a new lease for another year saves you money on turnover costs and helps you to begin financially planning your next year.
If the tenant does not wish to renew their lease, we go ahead and take the next steps to market the property. Although we only require a 30-day notice from the tenant, we do begin the conversation far in advance so we can proactively plan a competitive marketing strategy to ensure little to no vacancy time for your property.
Competitive Pricing According to the Denver Rental Market
We begin to research the market extensively so that we can price your property in a way that eliminates any kind of vacancy but also gives you the maximum return on your investment. Once we have examined the market and compared the price points for similar properties in the neighborhood, we begin to market the property to avoid a long vacancy time. We’ll post ads 30 days out on hundreds of real estate websites including Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Apartments.com. This helps us reach as many possible applicants as possible.
We schedule showings six days a week, including weekends, and we continue to have your property listed until we have a fully executed lease and security deposit in-house.
Our goal is to be knowledgeable and familiar with all of the markets to ensure that you are not left with a vacant rental. If you would like to discuss how we can help you further, please feel free to contact us at Walters & Company Property Management. We’d love to be your Denver property management resource.